Disinformation: How Scotland has been complacent over the risks posed by conspiracy theorists, bots and propaganda – Martyn McLaughlin

Life in the disinformation age can at times feel overwhelming. Geopolitical shifts and rapid technological advancements have heralded a new era of propaganda, waged by bots, deep fakes, dark ads, and troll farms.

There was a time, not so long ago, when we were promised that having information at our fingertips 24/7 would be a liberating force, one capable of breaking down barriers.

Nowadays, such a covenant rings hollow; the more knowledge we have at our disposal, the less capable we seem of deliberation. Instead, our ecosystems are places where manipulation and subversion run rampant. Information has become a tool with which to distract and disrupt rather than engage and enlighten.

The easy response to all this is to tune off and drop out. It is much more difficult to propose a pragmatic set of solutions to try and counter the problem.

Fortunately, Stewart McDonald has done just that. The SNP MP has long been a thoughtful commentator and activist when it comes to the scourge of disinformation. The publication this week of his report on how the issue impacts on Scotland goes further by setting out a series of recommendations which should, at the very least, act as a springboard for detailed debate.

A good deal of Mr McDonald’s report is concerned with the actions of hostile states and other actors in Scottish political discourse, and it points out that we have been complacent about such threats for too long.

This is undoubtedly true. Compared to some northern European countries, we are behind the curve when it comes to acknowledging this issue, let alone dealing with it, and there is a persistent naivety when it comes to understanding the precise nature of the threat.